Annual Pap Smears May Be Thing of the Past

November 20, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced its new cervical cancer screening recommendations today, stating that annual pap smears may no longer be necessary.

The group recommended that women start getting cervical cancer screenings at age 21, instead of age 18 which has been the protocol for a number of years. They also said that women could wait longer between screenings, regardless of the young woman’s sexual activity.

Women in their 20’s can now wait two years between screenings, and women in their 30’s can wait three years according to the new guidelines — provided that they have had a normal pap smear.

There has been a public uproar for several weeks over revised screening recommendations for mammograms. Some have even challenged that the change in recommendations was tied to the current U.S. healthcare reform debate. It remains to be seen how this new announcement will be received.

“This is not a radical change in screening practices. This is something that has been coming gradually since the 1980’s,” said Dr. Alan G. Waxman, who helped write the new guidelines.

Some doctors are particularly concerned about college-age women who are sexually active. Dr. John Curtin of The Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City said that 70 percent of all sexually active college women have contracted the HPV infections which will show up as an abnormal pap smear.

Fox News interviewed physicians this morning analyzing whether the guidelines should be part of government regulations and the expectation that women will see insurance companies increase denials of routine pap tests.

All women are encouraged to review their female health screening routine with their personal physicians, also discussing your family’s history. Many doctors are fearful that women will neglect preventative screenings.